Flair for design

April 30 2003

Even in '70s Melbourne, Richard Tyler stood out from the crowd, writes Stephen Crafti.

It was 1972. For a 13-year-old boy approaching his Bar Mitzvah, it was a memorable year. But it wasn't religious preparations that occupied my mind. I was more concerned about the suit I would wear on the special day.

My late father, Jack Crafti, owned a small group of shops in Droop Street, Footscray, an inner-western Melbourne suburb. The strip was anything but flash. There was a cake shop, a rifle shop and a rather odd store where there were a couple of bolts of velvet fabric propped up against a wall. It was run by a designer in his mid-20s who had waist-length hair and wore wide-collared shirts. He certainly stood out in Footscray and it was for that reason I determined he should dress me for my Bar Mitzvah.

My twin brother and I were ushered into the shop. The choice of fabric was limited but I settled on a dusty blue velvet, while my brother was left with the olive green. A couple of appointments were made with the designer, who concocted a suit featuring flares and side vents in the jacket. I was beyond excited.

But then, disaster. The designer moved across town before completing the suits and my father, the practical man that he was, took us both to the local tailor. Instead of wearing a fine velvet suit with flared trousers, I wore a blue polyester number with straight narrow-legged pants.

Fast-forward 20 years and an Australian designer is making a name for himself in the United States. It's 1993 and I'm reading The Age when I see a familiar-looking face in the paper. It's Richard Tyler, the Droop Street clothier who is now one of the world's leading fashion designers. Clearly, even as an impressionable 13-year-old, I knew how to spot talent.

Tyler's name is usually bandied about at Oscar time because Hollywood's finest just love his designs. So much so that his business is now worth $50 million a year and his couture dresses sell for up to $30,000 each. In 1990 Julia Roberts bought one of his men's suits - which is how he originally made his name - to wear to the Golden Globes and his star was born.

"The celebrity aspect of our business made a huge difference," agrees Tyler, who arrives in Australia this week to prepare for a turn down the catwalk during Australian Fashion Week. "It was the beginning of something larger."

Now he counts Sarah Jessica Parker, Heather Locklear and Brad Pitt among his clients. It's a far cry from 1972, when he decamped from Footscray to the more upmarket Toorak, where most of his clients lived.

"The locals in Footscray thought that my clothing was weird," he recalls. "I think anyone making their own clothes would have been seen as strange in those days."

But even then, his designs appealed to spotlight-seekers. Rock'n'roll bands from the '70s all came to see Tyler in his Toorak Road store. There was Sherbet, The Master's Apprentices and Skyhooks, just to name a few. Elton John and Rod Stewart also bought Tyler's clothes when they performed in Australia.

"I remember making lots of fitted satin jackets and tight satin pants," says Tyler. "It was part of that glam rock look."

And Tyler hasn't forgotten my half-made suit.

"I remember putting the gathering on top of the shoulder," he says. "It had a slightly feminine touch. Your father told me I needed to ease the sleeve into the jacket and conceal the tucks under the arm."

Unfortunately, that suit was never completed, with or without the small ruffles on the shoulder. But now, at the age of 43, I finally own a velvet suit. OK, so it's not a Richard Tyler original and it's black velvet instead of blue (less '70s, don't you think?). But the suit jacket does have side vents and the trousers are slightly flared. It's designed by Melbourne label Hemisphere and I love it. There's only one problem. I can't help but feel 13 when I put it on.

Richard Tyler will be in Australia as a special guest of Mission Australia. At its Best of the Best charity dinner next Monday, Tyler will be presenting his new range, Tyler, as well as some of his couture collection.